Excelsior Club civil war token, MA-115C-1e, "Good for a Scent" by Jos. H. Merriam
DCW
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May I present to you all, the pinnacle of my collection, and a great rarity in the civil war token series:
"Excelsior Club" token by Joseph H. Merriam, struck in white metal, R-10 (unique) ex. Fuld, Rosen, Tanenbaum, Bowers, Hayden...and now Wells (a mere man amongst giants.)
The Boston directories listed 22 Elm St as the address of James W. Haley, a dealer in wines and liquor from 1861-1864. This token was most likely issued for his business. In that time frame, Merriam issued many storecards for businesses in that very neighborhood in Boston, among them Hess & Speidel's Apollo Gardens at 576 Washington St, C.F. Tuttle' s Restaurant also on Washington St., George Fera, a confectioner on Tremont St, as well as his own business, Merriam & Co, located at 18 and 19 Brattle Square.
This token was only struck in white metal, and this is the only known survivor after 150 years. It's been a long, hard road traveled over those years, but I do believe it's got character!
It is paired with Merriam's famous "Good for a Scent" reverse die.
Like so many other coins of the past, I'm left wondering of all the stories it could tell.
Thank you to Steve Hayden for making this impossible deal happen, and thank you all for looking.
"Excelsior Club" token by Joseph H. Merriam, struck in white metal, R-10 (unique) ex. Fuld, Rosen, Tanenbaum, Bowers, Hayden...and now Wells (a mere man amongst giants.)
The Boston directories listed 22 Elm St as the address of James W. Haley, a dealer in wines and liquor from 1861-1864. This token was most likely issued for his business. In that time frame, Merriam issued many storecards for businesses in that very neighborhood in Boston, among them Hess & Speidel's Apollo Gardens at 576 Washington St, C.F. Tuttle' s Restaurant also on Washington St., George Fera, a confectioner on Tremont St, as well as his own business, Merriam & Co, located at 18 and 19 Brattle Square.
This token was only struck in white metal, and this is the only known survivor after 150 years. It's been a long, hard road traveled over those years, but I do believe it's got character!
It is paired with Merriam's famous "Good for a Scent" reverse die.
Like so many other coins of the past, I'm left wondering of all the stories it could tell.
Thank you to Steve Hayden for making this impossible deal happen, and thank you all for looking.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
7
Comments
If so, that's tremendously cool.
A great addition to the Wells collection!
The demand for Civil War tokens was not large in the New England area, especially compared to New York City or Chicago.
For whatever reason Merriam's production runs were very small given the number of pieces that are known today. I don't know why or how you could think you would make much money producing high quality dies, as Merriam did, and then sell so few tokens.
This piece had two things to make it rare. Not many were made and given that it was in white metal, not many survived. White metal was not met to last a long time. It was soft, easily marked and worn and subject to chemical reactions.
Maybe another one will crop up from an old trunk in a New England attic, but so far it hasn't.
Might be pretty cool to have a Merriam book, with great photos of course.
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<< <i>...I had a Sam's Inn, although that one now seems to be de-listed as a CWT. >>
It is not de-listed, though it has been reclassified as "Location unknown." There is no mention of "Sam's Inn" during the war years in Boston.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
(Pun intended.)
Seriously, though-very cool. You can't get much more unique than... unique.
Menomonee Falls Wisconsin USA
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistr...dset.aspx?s=68269&ac=1">Musky 1861 Mint Set
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for about six weeks... Awesome token...and only one known... fantastic. Congratulations.
Cheers, RickO
Here is the PCGS True view for another look:
This is the rarest of the "Good for a Scent" tokens produced by Joseph H. Merriam, which come in a few different varieties and merchants. They are extremely popular with exonumia collectors and have a lot of crossover appeal to coin collectors in general. It really has been a dream come true adding this token to my collection, and I appreciate the comments from those who took the time to post.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Here's the larger TrueView:
Beautiful token! I just posted a link to this thread on the "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder" thread which may or may not have contributed to reviving this thread. Thanks for bringing it up again LordM!
Necroposting....
I was searching for Good for Scent varieties and came across this thread. Very cool unique issue!
Latin American Collection
Such a great design - cool token!
What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
Great token. Glad it came up again. Thanks for posting.
Get scooby! I like it. Peace Roy
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Necroposting???
I will avert my eyes.
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@ricko
Necropost: Verb. To bring threads back from the dead.
In a sentence: “The newb has been constantly necroposting. I keep replying to three year old threads as if they are new”
Latin American Collection
Thanks for reviving this old thread, @Boosibri!
This piece is still an enigma, unsurprisingly as three years of research is apparently not enough to solve a hundred and fifty year old mystery.
Here are some thoughts to ponder:
1. It could be attributed to the wrong location. Excelsior Club, 22 Elm St is not named in any of the Boston Directories. That would suggest that the piece is from another city/state. However, the address is right in the epicenter of Merriam's shop which is compelling. If the token does indeed refer to Mr. Haley's wine and liquor shop, perhaps the name "Excelsior Club" was simply omitted from the directory or the business name was short lived.
Here is another token in the same boat, "Sam's Inn," which has been switched from Massachusetts to LU "Location Unknown" in the 3rd edition of the Storecards book.
It is struck in white metal like the Excelsior Club token, and although a simple design for Merriam, it is clearly done by his hand. Compare the numerals to the reverse of his Apollo Gardens token:
2. It could be post-war. At least one Good For A Scent token is known to be struck after the Civil War, and that is the Pfeiffer & Co Norfolk VA reverse. And we only know this thanks to David Shenkman's research uncovering that Frank Pfeiffer's business partnership did not open until 1870.
3. And perhaps the most wild idea: it could be referring to the famous baseball club of the day, The Excelsior Club of Brooklyn.
They were one of the first baseball clubs to go on tour to play other clubs and records show they played the Bowdoin Club at the Boston Common on July 10, 1862. Though a stretch, this could be some kind of one off token to commemorate their visit and carried as a pocket piece by the issuer. But what in the world does that have to do with Elm St? One day I will have the answer! Until then, I remain extremely proud to be the custodian of this unique piece.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Great post @DCW
Latin American Collection
Wanted to bump this now that we have a TrueView:
@DCW In my humble opinion, this may very well be a NY state token. After all, "Excelsior" is our state motto and appears on much NY obsolete currency. Albany, Rochester and Buffalo all have 22 Elm St addresses as well as many other cities and towns throughout the State.
Try Fultonsearch.org for your research. Good luck.
This is a great point and a good avenue for exploring the identity of the club. Thanks for posting it!
It is a point I have considered. Anything bearing the name "excelsior" has an obvious connotation to New York, but I have not found anything in the directories there to link this piece to NYC. Merriam indeed had a "branch office" there from around 1866-67. Did he strike it during this time period?
I'm still inclined to put this piece in Boston for two reasons:
1.Elm St is right there next to Merriam's shop and the address does belong to a merchant there during the war years. Is it a Civil War token, though? May be impossible to know, and to me that matters very little.
2. When Merriam's business turned into Merriam & Co around 1864-5, the Good For A Scent die was used to strike new tokens for the business using white metal planchets:
There is also another enigmatic token from the same time period in white metal using the Good For A Scent die with the odd address of 2 1/2 Chapman Pl. Also in the neighborhood of his business.
Of course, with anything Merriam just when you think you have good evidence, along comes an outlier. This piece was struck for Norfolk, VA oysterman Frank Pfeiffer.
Through Dave Schenkmans research, we know it is post war. So the die was AT LEAST used once out of the Boston area.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I also found a couple of Boston businesses using the word Exclesior in their name during the Civil War. Must have been a relatively popular term.
Anyone finding any info or have any conjectures to add is always welcome.
After 160 years, it remains the only one known.
As is the 2 1/2 Chapman Pl token presumed Unique.
There must have been very few tokens struck for these establishments, and attrition wiped them all out.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Here's the interior of 22 Elm St. in Boston courtesy of Coldwell Banker:
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/ma/boston/22-elm-st/pid_48080234/
@Zoins
That is not the Elm St that was in Boston in 1863. The whole area was torn down in the 1970s to make Government Center.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
That house was built in 1803. Did the street have a different name for the first 60 or more years, or was that part of town not part of Boston back then?
The address you are linking is north of Boston proper in Charlestown. The 22 Elm St next to Merriam's shop is the site of the Government Center. If you look on the map, you'll find it further south. Brattle Sq was demolished to build that hideous building
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
It is located in Charlestown, but Coldwell Banker lists the city as Boston. Perhaps Coldwell Banker is just wrong in their listing, or at least it wasn't referred to as Boston in 1863?